NCT U Nail the Aesthetics in "Without You"

SM Entertainment never fails to intrigue while simultaneously making fans scratch their heads. This sentiment pretty much sums up NCT U‘s debut this past week. Though SM’s plans to glocalize were announced months ago, the debut of NCT U with “The Seventh Sense” and “Without You” still felt like it came out of left field. Perhaps this is because no one really understands what NCT U is in the first place.

Maybe we were spoiled (or overwhelmed) with the lead-up to Exo‘s debut, but NCT U’s debut felt rather. . . confusing and anonymous. Following Red Velvet, NCT is the second SM Group to be introduced through theSM Rookies system. SM Rookies created an informal platform through which SM could warm-up their trainees without formally debuting them in a group: get their names out in public so that they could debut with a ready-made legion of fans. But, for more casual SM fans, unless one was actually keeping up with the Mickey Mouse Club or SM’s YouTube channel, the introduction to the members as artists fell a little short. Well, aside from Taeyong‘s questionable rap-feature in “Be Natural.”

With this in mind, NCT’s debut MVs are really our first introduction to them as a team and not just as individual SM Rookies. The debut came in two units, performing two remarkably different tracks: “The Seventh Sense,” a Drake-style R&B jam, and “Without You,” a sentimental electronic number. If “The Seventh Sense” was meant to showcase the rap line of NCT, “Without You” serves as our introduction to three of the vocalists. “Without You” in particular exceeds aesthetic expectations for a rookie debut, but falls a little short of distinguishing this NCT line-up as a vocal, or even musical, unit.

Since NCT is functioning as a Unit group from the get go, “Without You” is performed by only three members: Doyoung, Jaehyun and Taeil. (Win Win also makes an appearance in the MV.) “Without You” tells the story of loneliness, and the confrontation of dreams and reality when it comes to love. It’s remarkably mature lyrically, which I’m not used to see coming from SM.

Like a child who has grown up

Like a tree that is left alone

Look at someone’s world

That is exhausted with loneliness

They wanted it so bad

But they couldn’t find it

Look at the hidden scars

Of the ones who were pushed away

Not only is “Without You” a lyrical surprise from SM Entertainment, but the musicality of the track also signifies an attempt in new direction. “Without You” has a pop-band feel, without the band backing it. The track would actually fit quite perfectly onto Day6‘s recent mini, Daydreaming. There’s hypnotic guitars, a steady base line and just the right amount of drums in the chorus. However, since this sound is a little new for SM Entertainment, it’s clear that they’re still working out how to balance the heavier instrumental sounds with a vocal element. All three members sing well, but there’s nothing particularly distinctive about their vocals, and the same can be said for the backing track.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call “Without You” musically uninspired, but no matter how many times I listen to the track I can’t figure out what it’s trying to accomplish. It doesn’t particularly showcase the vocal talents of the three members, nor does it pique my interest about the new group’s sound. I guess, in the end, it’s all a bit too generic sounding. Luckily, the MV has the aesthetics to maintain my interest.

For the MV, SM really spared no expenses when it came to producing a clear visual concept. Unlike Exo’s “Love Me Right,” “Without You” is an aesthetic explosion done in all the right ways. There’s clear continuity between the mood of the track, the color and lighting schemes, and the narrative concept. It’s trendy for sure, but also dreamy and engrossing. Much like a dream, the scenes are strung together mysteriously, with intentional bits of the story missing. Who is this girl? Do they all love her? There aren’t any clear answers, but the aesthetics of “Without You” are more than pleasant enough to tempt a second, or even third viewing to try and piece it all together.

The aesthetics move with the pace of the song, in a somewhat day-dreamy, repetitive cycle. They don’t necessarily build to anything, but neither does the track. While the track could benefit from a little momentum in a specific direction, it’s nice to at least see the two aspects of the release reflect each other.

More than anything, SM deserves a little round of applause for letting NCT out of the box so early on, as well as giving them more emotionally and aesthetically mature concepts from the start.

Even with a spectacle of a press conference and multiple teaser videos, I still only have a jumbled idea of what SM is trying to accomplish with NCT. But, SM Entertainment, much like Apple, has a way of introducing me to things I need before I even knew I needed them. Or, more logically, they create their own markets and then cater to them. Was NCT’s debut totally amazing and memorable? No. Will they probably still do relatively well in the industry like all their seniors have? Yes (they have the power of SM behind them, after all).

It’s a strong enough debut to pull in some fans, but I’m wary of the future course for NCT. I understand that SM Entertainment has had their fair share of recent struggles with members leaving the company. In that respect, marketing a group as a fluid and dynamic unit may work to their favor. But at the same time, how does SM plan to establish a solid fan base without some illusion of a group mindset? Will they be able to carve out a distinctive niche for NCT U, or are they meant to be fluid musically as well? How do they plan to make me as a consumer like a group if the group lacks an identity?

Song: 3/5

MV: 3.7/5

Readers, how are you liking NCT U’s debut? Which of the two singles do you prefer?

Related

While I liked the track more than “The 7th Sense” and agree with most of this review, I have to disagree with the statement that this would fit onto Day6’s Daydream album. I’ve seen several people compare “Without You” to Day’s style, but the similarities are only superficial. I think the reason people think to even compare the two is that both have a rock style that is unusual from their respective companies, but there’s a clear point of difference that most people overlook: Day6 writes their own music.

I know, I know, it’s the whole “idols don’t have to write their own music” argument, but artistic ownership creates a big difference in the song’s sound. Since Day6 writes their own songs and had their own member act as the producer for their mini, they have a much more distinctive color. Not only so, Day6 is a band that plays instruments themselves. Therefore, their instrumentation is much more interesting and developed than “Without You” and there’s a heavier focus on that. “Without You” is written to showcase NCT’s vocals, and “Daydream” was put together to show off Day6’s ability as artists as a whole.

So I daresay that “Without You” would actually be very out of place in Day6’s “Daydream” album as it can’t even compare musically or vocally to the music that Day6 puts out. I liked “Without You”, and I didn’t dislike the vocals of Doyoung, Jaehyun, and Taeil, but I think comparing them to Day6 is missing the point.

chelsea_SB

I see where you’re coming from, and you’re very correct in all the differences you listed. However, on a purely pop-rock listening angle, I do think the two sounds vibe well together, and fall into a similar genre. Maybe it would have been better to say that listening to “Without You” reminded me of Day6’s Daydreaming — which is one of my favorite minis so far this year — but without the same amount of artistic execution. (which you elaborated very well.)

Shen

Hi! Yes, I definitely wasn’t accusing you of saying the two were the same; that comment was mostly a product of seeing several people compare the two groups superficially. Anyway, I thought this was a well-written article and look forward to reading the album review for Daydream, whether written by you or someone else!

find_nothing_here

So is Win Win the clone of Himchan SM secretly produced in their underground vats?

Nation’s bitch face

I might lowkey Stan if they keep releasing stuff like this

find_nothing_here

In that respect, marketing a group as a fluid and dynamic unit may work to their favor. But at the same time, how does SM plan to establish a solid fan base without some illusion of a group mindset? Will they be able to carve out a distinctive niche for NCT U, or are they meant to be fluid musically as well? How do they plan to make me as a consumer like a group if the group lacks an identity?
—
I think you missed an important question here, which is do we really want them to? Is a world where SM can simply churn out money-making songs without even having to think about their artists’ well-being a world that we want?

chelsea_SB

Do you mean do we want them to make NCT a distinctive group, or make us like them? (And i’m pretty sure that’s already the SM world we live in)

To me, NCT looks like the worst kind of cop out to the problems that SM faces with management. So, instead of acknowledging that their contracts are unfair and international management less than satisfactory, they created a system with little to no job security for the artists. The best we can hope for NCT is that they /are/ able to establish a fan base and members can continue to promote.

mijooliet

I surprisingly love Without You, and while I know that this a generic song, I really love the ‘free’ feeling it gives. Let me try to explain this… Yes, the song is about the boys’ expressing how ‘you’ are their everything and how miserable they are without ‘you’ but something about this track allows us to open our windows and sing while enjoying the sky, regardless of the lyrics. And who says we can’t grieve or wonder without feeling some sort of ‘freedom’ to do so? That free (and also dreamy, I suppose) vibe is enough to make Without You one of my favorite SM debut songs ever. I also like their voices, and I can say that they’re all talented. Jaehyun is not the main vocal nor lead (I think?) but look at how good he is. The rappers can actually rap too so overall this unit has no ‘useless’ member and this is a good start.

About the whole strategy of debuting NCT and NCT U, I agree that everything seems confusing and messy. The 7th Sense is a questionable debut song (plus they leave Taeil while hello he’s the main vocal) and WIthout You doesn’t even include the 2 rappers so I really don’t know where SM is going with this. Even NCT stans themselves can’t really explain what NCT actually is. Even so, I’m not really worried. This does sound like a weak and messy idea but in the end SM always knows what they’re doing. I’ve said “This isn’t going to work” for so many times but they always prove me wrong, one way or another. So let’s just sit back and wait until this plan becomes more complete which each release.

Thanh

I’ll try to explain here and see how it goes.
as you know, NCT as a whole big group has unlimited numbers of members and they will debut several teams around the world (korean already debuted, the japan and 2 chinese sub-units soon will debut this year/early next year as well). NCT U (the korean sub-unit) will act as the “base” group, and when another group debuts (say, the japanese group) one of the members from NCT U will be in that group. the members which feature in the song also depends on the genre & concept of the song (so i’m guessing what sm is trying to do is to have a good fit for each song, not like other groups who may try a new concept but not all the members necessarily fit into it?).
this is so far what some of the fans have understood by the whole NCT concept, but like you i am confused here and there as well, but hopefully my explanation has cleared up some parts.. :)

viki32

on first and then second listen to without you, i can actually picture (and feel like listening) to the song sung by either EXO (like Chen, Baekhyun, and Lay). if NCT did not debut with this song, it could probably be another EXO’s song. it sounds nice, yes, but I could totally picture another SM boy group singing it (=EXO).

but really, I was reminded constantly of EXO while watching them. yes, mind you, I don’t follow NCT while they were on SM rookies. i knew them by chance (the guy in RV’s be natural). like the lead vocalists remind me of Baekhyun, and Chen to a lesser extent. The sound of the vocalist in Chinese version occasionally reminds me of Lay and Luhan (sorry! i have to bring that up). and seeing Taeyong dance reminds me a lot to Kai. and even listening to The Seventh Sense remind me of some of EXO (sometimes) questionable rappers. So… i don’t know. i am not even a hardcore EXO fan. i’m just a casual listener.

the fans who already followed them since SM rookies would probably like them anyway. so i don’t doubt they will be big some time later. younger fans will like them, no doubt about it. but i’m still waiting to figure out what this NCT is, and what SM expects from them.